


Lair of the Dragon

by bookoftheazuresky



Category: Pocket Monsters: Gold & Silver & Crystal | Pokemon Gold Silver Crystal Versions
Genre: Almost Drowning, Caves, Dragon's Den, Dragons, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-27
Updated: 2016-04-27
Packaged: 2018-06-04 19:03:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6671188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookoftheazuresky/pseuds/bookoftheazuresky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Of course, he daydreamed about being presented as one of the Dragon Clan, about being able to get a Horsea or maybe even a Dratini of his own. But there were other dreams, too. Ones he hadn't even spoken of to his cousin. Some of the Tamers who were allowed the honor of entrance into the Den had spoken of their Pokemon choosing them, a connection that went beyond any other Pokemon they'd ever had.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lair of the Dragon

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this ages ago for a prompt on the Pokemon kink meme. I dragged it out and polished it up some. Thanks to meadowlarked and DivineMadness for their usual favor.

“Come on!” Clair hissed, her hand clamped around his elbow. Lance tried, unsuccessfully, to pry his eight-year-old cousin's small fingers off his arm, and planted his feet to stop being dragged towards the back of the Gym.

 

“We're not supposed to go into the Den! Grandfather says not to.” Lance resisted her hard tug, leaning back to put his weight into countering her. At a year older than Clair, he had the height and weight to keep from being moved if he didn't want to. She was thin and short, her aqua hair spilling into her face now as she scowled at him.

 

“So? He tells us not to do a lot of stuff.” She tried again, huffing when she couldn't budge him. Finally, she released her death grip on his arm and turned to face him.  “Listen, Lance...if we go in there...” she paused, half-caught in some ephemeral fantasy, aqua eyes sliding through their usual tempestuous color change to arrive at a cloudy slate.

 

Lance, not immune to either the dream or the peculiar charm Clair sometimes exerted, shifted uncomfortably. Sometimes, it was like his cousin was a dragon herself...which led right back to the subject. Of course, he daydreamed about being presented as one of the Dragon Clan, about being able to get a Horsea or maybe even a Dratini of his own. But there were other dreams, too. Ones he hadn't even spoken of to his cousin. Some of the Tamers who were allowed the honor of entrance into the Den had spoken of their Pokemon choosing them, a connection that went beyond any other Pokemon they'd ever had.

 

Clair, sensing his uncertainty, pressed the advantage. “We can just look around. We don't have to go in very far.”

 

Lance sighed, running a hand through his hair to push the auburn mess back. “Fine.” Delight bloomed over her face, transmuting her eyes to a brilliant sky color. He cut her off before she could speak. “But only a look around. We go in and then out, okay?” She nodded furiously.

 

~

 

Getting across the pond without being seen presented no problem. While Lance had been so wired with tension he'd half expected to spark upon contact with the water, crossing had involved no more trouble than taking off his shoes and getting soaked to his chest. Going back to get swimming gear would have provoked at least one adult to take notice, if not to come and watch them. Clair and he were the only children in Blackthorn, apart from some early teenage Trainers. Everyone else was of his grandfather's generation or only a few years younger, which meant that unless Clair and he snuck off somewhere, they were almost guaranteed to be supervised at the most inconvenient times.

 

He put his shoes and socks on the grassy verge and hauled his dripping self up onto the opposite bank. His cousin slithered up after him, not looking nearly as wet as he was feeling, probably due to her fondness for wearing sleeveless shirts and training shorts whenever the temperature went above freezing. Clair darted towards the cave entrance without even bothering to put on her shoes; he hastily followed before anyone could see them. Inside the entrance, the floor was sandy with an iron ladder leading down. Lance leaned against the wall to brush sand off his wet feet before putting on his socks and shoes. They immediately started getting wet as he began to wring out his shirt.

 

Clair simply yanked on her shoes, not bothering with socks or drying herself off. She was on the ladder, blue hair disappearing into shadow, before he'd finished tying his shoes. “Wait up!” Lance said, throwing a glance towards the rough arch of the entrance before wrapping his hands around the corrugated metal to lower himself down.

 

The first thing that struck him once he got low enough was the echoing sounds of water, bounced of walls so many times as to be all-encompassing. The ladder was slick with moisture, squeaking against the rubber soles of his shoes. The air was scented heavily with rock and humidity, with something that rested against the back of his tongue, something metal and sweet-sour. The ground crunched as his feet barked on it.

 

He heard Clair breathe in with awe. Lance gripped the metal hard enough to leave an impression on his palms, the slowly let go to turn around.

 

The ceiling of the cave, jagged with stalactites and dimly lit by small lanterns scattered around the cavern, soared high above their heads. Rocks loomed hugely out of the swirling lake, the spray filling the air with startlingly warm mist and putting a layer of water over everything. The Dragon Shrine standing proud in the middle of the lake was marked by more lanterns hanging from the pointed ceiling, glowing through the mist.

 

Clair started forward, a back-lit shape in the fog. Lance followed, entranced by the roar of the waters, the tendrils of mist caressing his face. They reached the foot of the bridge leading to the shrine, puddles gleaming on the wooden surface. His cousin's face looked as spellbound as he felt. Her hair hair frizzed out of her ponytail in the damp She turned towards him. “Let's go further.”

 

Lance's common sense informed him that their chances of getting caught went up exponentially as they got closer to the Dragon Shrine, that there were Dragon Tamers in here training their Pokemon, and certainly someone attending the inner sanctum. But the allure of being in this place, where his ancestors had trained for time immemorial, was too strong. And always before him was that dream, that maybe a dragon would come to him, choose him...

 

This time, when Clair grabbed his arm, he followed her willingly.

 

They made it halfway across the bridge before the wood gave way beneath their feet. Lance had time for one panicked gasp before the warm, frothing water closed over his head. He clawed at the wood but only succeeded in driving splinters into his hand before being ripped away by the current. Clair's small hand lost its grip on his arm as they were dragged underwater.

 

Lance was battered against the rocks hard enough to lose the breath that had filled his lungs. The current yanked him away for just enough time to give him hope that he might reach the surface before dashing him back again so hardthat everything went black.

 

 

Lance woke up to the distant sound of yelling. Everything was hurting, and loud, and he was lying in a puddle...something prodded his cheek. Opening his eyes was ridiculously difficult, but he managed to get them open a slit to see...blue? _Clair?_ He thought fuzzily, trying to force his eyes open a little more. He remembered the cave, the bridge, the shrine...Lance mustered his willpower and opened his eyes a little more.

 

Despite the fact that he felt like his body had been hammered with Rock Slide, he managed to stiffen. A Dragonair. A Dragonair was right beside him, close enough to touch. Its deep red eyes met his for a long moment, then it lifted its head, the small white wings and horn almost glowing in the low light. It slithered back into the water, disappearing into the froth.

 

Running footsteps broke his shock. One of the Tamers skidded to his knees next to him. “Lance! Damn it all―”

 

“Clair!” Memory crashed, sudden and startling, back into his mind. “Is she―” He'd lost her in the water, and she was so much smaller than he was...

 

The Tamer – Aaron, he thought, although it was hard to tell with the light and his head hurting – said, relief clear in his voice, “No, she's fine, she's right there, what the hell were you thinking...”

 

Lance seized on that. “She's okay? Where?”

 

“I said so, didn't I?” Aaron snapped, waspish from fright. “She's right behind you. Now be quiet, we gotta figure out some way to get you two out of here. You are so damn lucky, falling in and washing up here, look at what happened to the bridge...”

 

His whole body complained at turning his head. Lance knew that he would no doubt be covered in bruises come tomorrow from their little adventure. He caught sight of Clair's azure hair spilled loose from her ponytail, a bruise coming up on her cheek, but most definitely breathing.

 

Lance closed his eyes with a sigh. No doubt they would get grounded for the next month or so for going into Dragon's Den. Right now he was just glad to be alive. Both Clair and he were alive, and he'd seen...

 

For the second time that day, Lance fell into blackness.


End file.
